That Balls Outta Here » Paul Hoover

It’s Time to Accept that Paul Hoover is Gone

Justin Klugh — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:11:06 +0000

Its never easy to lose a third or fourth string catcher. Who of us can say they weren’t sucked in by the sturdiness of Hoover’s defense, and the .300+ of his batting average over 25 plate appearances in 2010? Only those with souls made of cement, that’s who. But Paul’s gone now; whisked away by the tepid allure of the greater Boston area. The endless drawing power of Massachusetts in winter claims another (more…)

Phils Remind Dodgers They Are Just the Dodgers

Justin Klugh — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:31:51 +0000

“If you throw a shutout and the team doesn’t score any runs for you, you’re not going to win.”

Whoa! Whoa. What are you talking about, Roy Oswalt? Not scoring runs for a quality starter is how you play baseball. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s how Abner Doubleday designed the sport. A pitcher comes out, throws the game of his life, keeps the other team from scoring at all, maybe gets a base hit to give the crowd a larff, and finally, throws the last pitch in the ninth and in the locker room, gets what he undoubtedly deserves: the 1-0 loss. If he was a good pitcher, he’d have won.

Right? That’s baseball.

“If you give up one run, pitch nine innings and lose 1-0, you still pitched a pretty good ballgame.”

I have… a lot of research to do.

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Jose Contreras Saves First Game in 1396th Inning of Career

Justin Klugh — Sun, 16 May 2010 16:35:10 +0000

“It was a tough situation at that moment, but I was able to save the game. That’s the most important thing,” said Jose Contreras, as behind him, several members of the Phillies medical staff chased down and successfully threw a butterfly net over a struggling Brad Lidge before dragging him to the 15-day DL.

It was a tough situation, as Contreras was hustling into a spot that most pitchers have found impossible to fill in the last two years: Closing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Whether its a floundering Lidge or a metal chair, the position of “Phillies closer” has been a carnival of cloddishness, as the same handful of guys trips and stumbles over each other in a vain attempt to emulate the immaculateness of 2008, but can only muster the occasional spurts of success, like six desperate hamsters all squealing to run on the same wheel.

And yesterday, as Joe Blanton anxiously watched from the dugout, hoping against hope that the “0″ in his record could finally shift to a “1,” Jose Contreras closed the door on the Brewers for not only Big Joe’s first 2010 victory, but the first save in his own 22 year career.

And it would have been the highlight of the game, had Corey Hart not accidentally kicked the ball over the right field wall while trying to field it.

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